Cram (game show)

Cram
Genre	Game show
Presented by	Graham Elwood
Starring	Berglind Icey Arturo Gil Andrea Hutchman
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	80
Production
Running time	22-24 minutes
Original release
Network	GSN
Release	January 6 – September 19, 2003 (2003-09-19)

Cram is a game show that aired as an original series for the Game Show Network (now GSN) in 2003. The show featured two teams, each composed of two contestants. For 24 hours before taping, the contestants were sequestered in a warehouse, with the intent of staying awake and "cramming" various material such as trivia questions and jokes, which they would then answer on the show while attempting physical stunts in an attempt to stay awake. Graham Elwood was the host and Berglind Icey (referred to simply as "Icey" on the show) was the co-host. The April Fool's Day 2003 episode was hosted by Marc Summers.

The Rant

To start, both teams were given 100 points. Each team was required to talk about one of three articles they had been assigned to read while standing inside their own large hamster wheel.

The winners of a "3AM coin toss" could select one of three topics (two in the second season); the other team picked from the two remaining choices. Each player had to talk continuously for 20 seconds (40 seconds total); stopping, stalling, stuttering, saying "Um" or "Uh", or going off-topic penalized the team five points per violation. If a team said one of eight hidden key words or phrases related to the article, ten points were added to their score. After the first team Ranted, the second team attempted their Rant. However, both teams had to continually walk inside the wheels during both Rants.

Stunt Round

For round two, each team (starting with the team in the lead) performed a stunt and answered a list question. The round tested the players multitasking abilities, which are supposedly hindered from sleep deprivation. The stunts took various forms: demonstrating yoga positions, matching cuts of meat to a picture of a cow, or even firing hard candies at small chocolate bunnies using a slingshot. All of the physical aspects of the stunts were things that the contestants had been given to study overnight. Each successful part of the stunt won 20 points for the team.

While the partners alternated playing the stunt, they also alternated answering a list question (from a book called "Cram's Big Dumb Book of Stupid Lists") read by Elwood. After he read the item, the partner had to give the relevant answer to score 10 points. Both parts of the round happened at the same time and never stopped, so one contestant might be assuming a yoga position and answering a question simultaneously if both their turns came up at the same time. Passing on any question was considered a wrong answer. The list had 12 items to name in 40 seconds (45 seconds in the first season).

Riddle Round

After the stunt round, both teams had one last chance to add to their points. Starting with the trailing team, one partner climbed into an exercise bike or rower, and the other would get into a sidecar. The partner had 40 seconds (45 seconds in the first season) to answer riddles posed by Elwood, each worth 30 points. The catch was that the exercising player had to meet and maintain a minimum threshold of physical output — 10 miles per hour on the bike, or 50 watts of power on the rower — before the rider was allowed to answer the question. A lit red light meant the exerciser had to work harder; when a green light turned on, the rider could answer. Giving a wrong answer or passing increased the required output by 3 miles per hour (for the bike) or 50 watts (on the rowing machine).

If the game ends in a tie, a numerical question is asked whoever comes closest wins the game.

After both teams got to play, the team with more points won the game and $1,000. The runners-up divided $500.

$10,000 Quiz

During the last segment, the two winners climbed into a bed onstage and donned blindfolds while the lights were dimmed. "Miss Pickwick", the "resident sleep therapist" (played by Andrea Hutchman and in the April Fool's 2003 episode by Elwood in drag), would read the team a series of bizarre facts during the commercial break. In addition to the facts, contestants were also read various suggestions such as "You're getting so sleepy" to make staying awake even more difficult. When the show came back from the break, the team's memory was tested on the facts Miss Pickwick had just read to them.

On the sound of an alarm, a 60-second countdown started, and the team had to get out of bed and down to the stage. Before they could answer a question, they had to get all four feet off of the ground by means of either a small peg (called a "stump"), a pair of teeter-totters, a pair of surfboards on springs, on a spinning tube, or a simple balance beam. After they did that, Elwood began asking a question from the list. If at any time a foot was stepped to the floor, the team was buzzed, and Elwood would restart the question. A right answer moved the team up a level, but a wrong answer or pass moved them down a level. Reaching level 5 won $10,000. If the team did not get to level 5, they split an additional $100 for each level they reached at the end of the 60 seconds in addition to the $1,000 won in the main game.